[RachPreach]

I have a 5 gallon hex tank that I have used in the past to artifically hatch angelfish eggs and raise angelfish in. I was wanting to set this up full time so it would be ready to use whenever my angels spawned. I wasnt sure how to go about keeping the tank cycled to prevent ammonia spikes. I was going to use a sponge filter with an aerator. I have a cylinder sponge that is in my 100 gallon tank that im sure has beneficial bacteria in it so i was thinking I could use this. Is there anything else i need to do to set this tank up? I know i need a heater but am i missing something? Does it need small fish to keep it cycled?

 

[seastar0328]

I'm always (it seems) setting up new small tanks for fry etc. Because of this, I keep having to buy a new quarantine tank. Since I aquired all these zebra danios for cycling new tanks, and I don't want danios even near my other tanks, I just keep the spares around to cycle new tanks and when they're not in use, they stay in my Q-tank. That way I know I have a system going that is cycled when I need it. I would keep the fish in there so the filter and the bacteria living on the filter sponge will be accustomed to handling some sort of fishload. I know that any time you add fish to a tank the bioload increases and there's a short cycle period that it will take for the bacteria to catch up to the new load. Most of the time this is negligible if we add fish slowly and one at a time, but if someone wanted to add 4-5 new fish to a 10 gallon say all at once where it previously only housed 2 fish, the filter and the bacteria on it will be overloaded. So I would assume that by keeping fish in the tank between inhabitants you would normally have in there would be beneficial to the tank's filter. That's just my opinion and reasons why I keep fish in mine.

 

[RachPreach]

ok so i could keep fish in my 5 gal tank until i needed it for eggs and then just move the fish out?

 

[RachPreach]

How long after setting up the 5 gal. tank should i put the cycling fish in there?

 

[sayn3ver]

adding a few drops of clear ammonia (about 3 drops or so per 10g) daily after cycling to keep a constant food supply for the bacteria.

Before you go to add fish, just do a waterchange to reduce the nitrates.

 

[RachPreach]

Here is a pic of my tank:

and here is my homemade sponge filter. I took the sponge from my 100 gal. tank and the black tube is part of my canister filter that isnt being used. I put an airline with an airstone down into the tube. I hope I did it right:

 

[NightAngel]

I also raise angelfish.
I currenly have an unoccupied 10G for fry, a very planted 38 with oto's, and a 29g planted breeder.

What I do is use a goldfish. Goldfish put out a ton of ammonia. (filthy but lovley creatures) I have had my goldfish for over two years and I am cirtain that this fish is free from parasites and is in good health. She is a black moor.
I usually have a few oto's in all my tanks. 3-4 weeks before I need the tank, I put in the black moor (you can use other kinds of fish, just like the moor becuse it is pretty and a huge ammonia producer to boot). I make sure to turn down the heater. These tanks have been established for a long time, I use the goldfish to beef up the bactieria load, not cycle the tank.

Right now the fish is in the breeder tank. I will be pulling the pair in about a month (or when WWIII breaks out in the 150g love shack) After that, the goldfish will go into the fry tank, then to the grow out.

Works great for me and I don't have any ammonia/nitrite problems.

 

[RachPreach]

so is the way that i have the sponge filter set up(as in the pics above) correct? How far down should the airstone be in the tube?

 

[RachPreach]

ok well im about to put some eggs in the tank that my angels layed just now. they layed them on the intake tube of the filter so im just going to put the tube in the breeder tank. Im going to add some methylene blue to the tank also. How often should i change the water and when should i start? I have been doing weekly changes to the tank while it has been set up for a couple of weeks and it has also been cycling with endlers that i just took out.

 

[turbosaurus]

Check out angelfish.net
Everything you would ever want to know- and really good people who will answer everything.
I belive you have to remove the meth blue when they start wiggling(48 hours) but I could be wrong, it may be when they swim (7 days from spawn) but I am pretty sure its wiggling... start doing water changes now so its all out in two days.

Once they swim, BN plecos and Ottos are both safe to put in with them and you can leave them in the tank once the fry get moved to help keep the tank cycled for the next batch.

 

[RachPreach]

Well my eggs are wiggling now. They are still stuck to the tube. Is that good or bad? Should i try to keep them on there as long as possible or try to get them off?

 

[RachPreach]

come on now...anybody?

 

[turbosaurus]

No! don't pull them off the tube- leave them there. 5 days from when they start to wiggle and they will swim. If you pull them off, they are goign to settle at the bottom of the tank - you'll have a dead spot in there no matter what you do, and that's where they will end up and they'll die. Leave them right where they are.

If you see any white eggs in with the wigglers start to get fungused, pull them off, the fungus will grow onto the wigglers if you leave it there. Other than that, leave them alone at a constant temp until they swim.

You'll want to let them swim for ~24 hours before they get their first meal. Live BBS (baby brine shrimp) are best. Microworms are second best- but you definately want to go with something alive. Many fry will starve to death if you feed them with something that isnt alive.. they just won't know its food.

 

[ianiwane]

uh, did you drill holes in the black tube for where the sponge is on your homemade sponge filter? Also is the bottom of it sealed?

 

[RachPreach]

no i just put the black tube into the sponge...

 

[RachPreach]

ok also its almost impossible to get the fuzz stuff off the tube that the wrigglers are stuck to. I just tried and I ended up sucking some of them up instead. Im just going to make sure the bottom is clean. How often should i do water changes?

 

[RachPreach]

bumpbumpbump

 

[fish_lover0591]

didn't you check out the link that turbosaurus gave you?

 

[turbosaurus]

Get the fuzz off,
pick up a pair of tweezers, the sharp skinny kind you use to remove splinters, and use that to pull off the fungus (fuzzy stuff). If there are wigglers attached then shake it off- the fungus will kill them anyway- don't let it keep growing.
and go to angelsifh.net!

 

[RachPreach]

good idea...i did that and it worked good. Its ok if the ones I had to shake off the fungus come off the tube right?

and yes I went to angelfish.net...thanks